Cognitive behavioural strategies for HIV sexual risk reduction

Abstract

Unprotected sexual intercourse is the principal means of transmission for HIV; the virus associated with AIDS. In the absence of effective medical treatment, the modification of sexual behaviour remains the most important method of containment. A cognitive behavioural model of risky sexual behaviour is described. Intervention strategies suggested by the model are discussed in some detail. These include a novel procedure that potentiates state dependent memory effects. Finally, three cases are presented in order to underscore key points.

Anxiety, Depression, and Explanation‐based Pessimism for Future Positive and Negative Events

“…An intervention designed to alter those causal explanations and observe effects on likelihood judgements would also provide a further test of the causality hypothesis. Tallis (1995) has also applied the present framework in attempting to understand and alter the unhelpfully low perceptions of risk of HIV infection in high risk groups. Specifically, he suggests that increasing the availability of reasons why the individual might become infected leads to higher perceptions of risk and from there to reduced risk behaviour.…”

Relationships among sexual self‐concept and sexual risk cognition toward sexual self‐efficacy in adolescents: Cause‐and‐effect model testing

“…The concept of sexual risk cognition was developed for the purpose of measuring a series of self‐justifications for having unprotected intercourse among homosexual men (Gold, Skinner, & Ross, ). When AIDS began to receive public attention, the important role of cognitive events and processes in mediating risky sexual behavior was emphasized in many intervention programs (Tallis, ). Sexual self‐cognition was defined as “risk‐escalating thoughts that occur in the heat of the moment of potential sexual risk‐taking” (Shah, Thornton, & Burgess, , p. 471).…”

Does Effective Depression Treatment Alone Reduce Secondary HIV Transmission Risk? Equivocal Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Depression and other psychiatric morbidity, common among HIV-infected persons [3, 4], is one modifiable factor that is thought to have a major impact on continued engagement in HIV transmission risk behaviors. Theoretical work has linked risky sexual behavior to depression within both psychodynamic [5] and cognitive-behavioral frameworks [6], as depressed mood may be associated with cognitive distortions, maladaptive coping, and/or loss of risk aversion. Depressed mood has also occupied a central role in several related conceptual models of sexual behavior and HIV prevention [7-10] and has been linked in empirical studies to HIV transmission risk behaviors [11-15].…”